Chu Moy headphone amp as budget mic pre?

[tradja]

Is anyone familiar with these little headphone amps?  
There are many out there, all similar (search for "cmoy" on ebay), quite a cottage industry!

http://dansdata.com/cmoy.htm

Would it work as a stealth pre?  It seems to provide gain (but how much?  How much is needed?), has 1/8" in and out, and many of them have volume (i.e. output) adjustment.

I have been looking for a headphone amp anyway, and if it could double as taping gear, well then, it's a no-brainer.

Thanks for any knowledge to share.

[AT853rxwh]

It depends, what are you going into?  A NJB3?  What are you recording?  What kind of mics?  If you are planning on recording Loud music, you might just need a battery box, if you are planning on recording nature sounds, you are going to need tons of gain.  

As for headphone amps, the Chu Moy is on the low end of the audiophile headphone amps.  I had one and it made a big difference.  Then I got a Xin SuperDual and I couldn't listen to the Chu Moy anymore...  Would suggest checking out www.headfi.com, www.fixup.net.  You will find a lot of info out from both, +T and welcome aboard!

[tradja]

It depends, what are you going into?

Prolly into my jb3, or into my MZ-N505 line in (no mic input) if stealth conditions mandate.  Why does this matter?  Is it because the deck itself could possibly provide some gain?

What are you recording?  

All types, mostly jam bands in bars or smallish ballrooms.  I would be using this mostly (exclusively?) for stealth, and the Oktavas>Mixpad>jb3 for open taping.  Usually loudish music (I wear earplugs, anyway)

What kind of mics?

Core Sound Low Cost Binaurals, eventually maybe a heavy stealth rig of something like Okatvas>PS-2>pre?>MD
Yeah, I like head-fi, but I'd never heard of fixup.net

+T and welcome aboard!

Thanks!

[AT853rxwh]

The general concensus is that you won't need a pre.  Get a batterybox (with rolloff switch would prolly be best).  

The reason the source matters is that with the NJB3 going line in you might need upwards of 50db of gain depending on what you are recording, softish stuff you are going to need a decent mic pre (read decent as 30db+ gain and fairly low noise.)  (you can find most of that info in the archive)

As to the source question, it is because you are going to need a batterybox going line in on the NJB3 (and on your mz-n505)  IF you went mic in on a MD, your mics would be powered, albeit at a lower voltage...